My mind was reflecting upon the word disease and it’s origins. I was felt the word Ease stand out as I was focusing on BEing in the Stillness with Ease! Then, it struck me, a concept so simple yet, so profound!

This word Easy originates from the word Ease and it means to be At Ease with what is!

Ease = Comfort

If something is Easy, it’s because you’re at ease with what it is; you are comfortable with it!

Society and our culture have perpetuated Easy to equate to lazy when it isn’t – how things shouldn’t be easy – and we should always have to struggle and strive for what we think we want as even that’s been imbedded into our psyches through the media. Would it really bring us the pleasure we seek if we worked so hard for it? Interestingly, I can look back upon my life and see that I probably held on the longest and hardest to those things I felt I’d sacrificed myself to achieve or gain. Meanwhile, for it to have come easy would mean it wasn’t worthwhile? How absurd are we really to have bought into this? How much resistance do we believe is necessary to live a meaningful life? Well, apparently many of us have fallen victim to this false conditioning because I know I did!

When something “comeseasy to you,” it really meansyou are at ease with whatever it is!

Now, interestingly enough, from my own conditioning, I immediately saw how I had been conditioned to relate this word easy to mean lucky or lazy and irresponsible; using the word easy wasn’t a compliment. Let’s face it, this world has perpetuated that “Nothing worthy comes easy. Only hard work and effort pays.”

From being told what is a reasonable career path to follow in life versus a gift or true talent that comes naturally with ease to being labeled or called cold because you can find neutrality and don’t become overly emotional in a situation where you can see it for what it is and are at ease with it. Think of a time when you offered advice and someone struck back at you with “Easy for you to say!” Not everyone has ease in what they’re dealing with or they would be in the flow.

What does the word Easy evoke in you?

“Sometimes what is really hurting you is your own perception of things.”~ Isaac Asimov

If your life is what you perceive as difficult and you’re meeting resistance with what IS versus what you WANT, you’re most certainly not at Ease! This is why it is called “Dis~Ease!” The fact that you want something that is not currently available to you at this moment in time implies you have an attachment and expectation to something outside of what you have now! It brings up the disassociation from your being present in this moment and being at ease with what is.

Anytime we look ahead or behind what is in this moment now, we are basically ignoring and neglecting what is right there in front of us. It’s at that moment you can see your discomfort with the Present and your lack of gratitude and appreciation for it.

Whatever it is we may be unable or unwilling to confront in our current moment will only grow and fester if you don’t confront and process it in the moment you feel it. You can’t force something away and suppress it because it came up for you to attend to it at that moment, without judgment or blame! If it continues to be unattended to, it will continue to resurface and invariably prove to be more bothersome the longer it is ignored.

You need to look at it & Be with it… Seek to know what it is you’re resisting and fighting… and, Why!

Why do you feel everything needs to be so difficult? It’s not necessary.

Have you, like I, myself had, bought into the idea that nothing in life comes easy or how you must struggle with hard work to get what you want in life?

This is the part where I found this exact belief implies we should be in constant struggle, in dis-ease fighting for what we want when the reason we have don’t have it is because we use the same resistance to block the flow & ease of just allowing it to BE!

If you’re not able to be At Ease with what is, you certainly won’t be any more comfortable with what you claim to want and struggle so hard to get! Anything that doesn’t come with ease has been forced and means it won’t last – whether you loose the interest after you’ve conquered or it escapes your grasp. Power is innately within each and every one of us while force is the illusion of power used to speed up having it. I learned of this when I read David R. Hawkins’ book Power vs. Force and you can find examples of it all around us – Force masquerading as Power over the masses where the masses so easily could take that power back in an instance. It’s the Ego that has the hardest time with being at ease because it fears its own death. It wants to control everyone and everything in its vicinity drawing in those who will bow to it.

If you don’t agree with the Ego, it takes and makes things personal lashing out attacking those who threaten its existence. It knows if you don’t agree, it may be found out to be a fake, a phony, a tyrant trying to enlist loyalty to IT, not to the person or the situation.

Without validation through agreement, the Ego looses ground.

This is the Suffering!

The Dis~Ease!

The mind can only be at Ease when the Ego is dissolved. The mind is meant to serve us and does provide insight but it is not meant to overrule the Heart as it has in this World – otherwise, war would not exist! Again, if we were all at ease with what is, we would not seek out to impose our will (Ego) upon others trying to force them to conform with what we feel is comfortable for us! One has to be able to improve himself long before they can ever affect another, let alone force their will upon them! Because that will is the Ego! The Ego will never Be Happy! It can’t because it collects servants only to want more… Isn’t that what Tyranny is about?

So, I ask you, what is Ease for you? How have you perceived to be Easy in your life? Have you appreciated it or take it for granted – giving more gratitude to the fruits of your labored struggles?

How do you find Ease in your life?

What are you Uneasy or uncomfortable with in your life? Where is your focus – on the ease or the disease?

Can you see how much easier your life would be if you focused on ease in your life now? Don’t you want a life of ease?

To define a life of ease really simply means life flows without resistance. Everything that you desire comes into your life in such a way it exceeds any expectation you could possibly have held. Being at ease means releasing attachments to how you would like things to be. It’s remaining neutral in moments where you recognize you are not in control and everything will be alright because everything is happening in perfect Divine Time. It’s keeping that Ego at bay and treating yourself with respect and kindness because you know your Heart rules. Easy does it was coined long ago and if you apply it to your life, you may just find it ultimately does!

Easy Does It when You Are at Ease with what is!
~ Lana A LaBonte

~*♥*~ May You BE AT EASE and in the flow of Divine Grace every step of your life!
In Love, Joy, Peace, & Harmony! ~*♥*~

Don’t mistake what you think in your head to be truth because this is where it, the mind, deceives. A simple distraction to maintain its existence as the mind fears its own death.

It’s in your Heart Truth is Known!

What we Perceive we Believe & what we Believe we Perceive…

This is the Mind.

This is the Ego.

It’s this head-based rationalizing that has been the root cause of all of our suffering; the heartaches we’ve endured have all been initiated and perpetuated in our head!

This loyalty to thoughts based on illusions of our preconceived ideas and imagined reality is what has left our hearts in such a state of neglect and pain.

We’ve allowed our head to dictate, overshadow, and neglect the needs of our own Hearts!
Why have we allowed this inanimate Ego to enslave us to such lack of self-respect and perpetual life-degrading behavior?

How is it we have given full reign to our head overshadowing our own Heart?
Why do we treat our Heart so poorly?

In the end, it really is our Heart that knows and leads us to our desired Destiny.

Remember the times when you noticed how you allowed your head to lead the show despite having that gut feeling of a better solution only to realize later, that what you felt was right all along!?

THAT was your Heart telling you!

Why didn’t you listen?

You thought the head knew better? ….but how many times has it proven this to be an incorrect assesses meant of its ability to serve and protect you?

Our Ego Mind is meant to serve us but we’ve turned it into a monster that we’ve relinquished control over to. The only thing it has become is out of control with external influences, with distractions from seeing the Truth that is within us, and keeping us in fear of anything that threatens its existence.

What if you woke up one day only to realize you had no control over anything in your life other than the way you reacted to it and experienced it?

Well, isn’t that the Truth already!?
We *think* we do have control but we really don’t???

This is the construct of our mind. The idea doesn’t come from our heart but comes from our head. My humor wanted to suggest you wrap your head around this concept.
Now, can you recognize when your mind goes off on a tangent? That is you witnessing it. Witnessing allows you to watch the antics of the mind, to see it’s habits, and learn the games it plays that keep you in a state of suffering. When you witness, it gives you the insight and ability to make the changes at the moment you recognize the injustices of the mind – how it proceeds to resist your attempts to seek your happiness within.

We can only truly find our Truth within. You cannot seek validation through others.

To even depend on others is just as absurd because we’re all a part of a Divine Dance where some move with grace in the flow and synchronicity while others haven’t yet keyed into the natural rhythm and rigidly bump and grind with resistance to the symphony. This is because we are all at different stages along in our journey. Not one of us is at the same point nor ever could be where we can or could share the same experience, ever!

Though, the real simple Truth is the same for each and every one of us!

It is Love!

Love is Truth!

There’s nothing mysterious about this at all except that we’ve denied it. We all desire it and need it but the inflated head over heart way of living has suppressed this simple Truth!

The reality is we come in as Love and we die back into Love…the challenge is to live in Love!

The journey along the way is about returning to Love and each of us goes about it on their own Path of Experiencing the many contrasts of it.
The illusion is that we can’t have Love or that we have to earn it but then again, that’s the way the Mind has been conditioned. Don’t fall prey to this lie.

This time we are currently is will find us all learning new ways of approaching life. We will be awakened to New Sensations! If you haven’t already sensed this in your own life, you’ll notice you may even feel things differently than you have before. Embrace it because this is an exciting time. We are here in this life to EXPERIENCE it! Stop trying to find ways to escape what you label to be good or bad but instead, seek to experience it.

It’s in the experience you’ll find your freedom from suffering!

Return to the root of the root of your own self.”
~ Rumi

~*♥*~ May You be Blessed with new & exciting insights into YOU & Your Truth! BeHold your Heart with Love, in Love, as Love! ~*♥*~

The serious thing for each person to recognize vividly and poignantly, each for himself, is that every falling away from species-virtue, every crime against one’s own nature, every evil act, every one without exception records itself in our unconscious and makes us despise ourselves. Karen Horney had a good word to describe this unconscious perceiving and remembering; she said it “registers.” If we do something we are ashamed of, it “registers” to our discredit, and if we do something honest or fine or good, it “registers” to our credit. The net results ultimately are either one or the other—either we respect and accept ourselves or we despise ourselves and feel contemptible, worthless, and unlovable.”

Emotions ~ as we ebb and flow through life, waves in sensations crescendo in our thoughts, actions, and reactions all based on these feelings!Feelings that reside in the deepest part of us, our subconscious and in our core, our Heart. How often do you acknowledge how they navigate you in every area of your life? Do you realize how important it is to honor each and every emotion you go through?Because our emotions are cyclical, they will continue to resurface until you sit fact-to-face with each one of them, acknowledge, listen, and allow them to speak to you; to teach you about yourself and how to grow and progress in this life. Suppressed and unresolved feelings only fester …

It’s a simpleTechnology of the Soul! We just need to adapt to the language, learn the signs, and become master communicators with our Soul. With this mastery we can navigate through life with ease and grace.

Consider the Moon represents our inner world ~ our emotions ~ fluid like water and easily transformative from one moment to the next. The Soul communicates to us via our Emotions(E-moting ~ Energetic MotionorEnergy in Motion). But when the Ego detects feeling, dramatic scenarios of unreal events are concocted to facilitate illusions based on strong belief systems we’ve been conditioned with. It believes it can and will control situations to protect us. Sure, it has our best interest at heart and wants to serve us by protecting us. On the other hand, our Egothinks itself Important! But that’s all it can do because it is not tangible nor can it produce anything physical.

Everything about the Ego is an Illusion, even the good sounding stuff! Sometimes it even wants to tell you what you feel by creating sensation in you through reliving painful memories. Have you ever considered how sabotaging this is?

Don’t get caught up in any of this because it’s a distraction from what is being presented. What is happening when your Soul speaks to you through your emotions is giving you this amazing opportunity to confront and balance the imbalance of this energetic motion – Emotion!Imbalances in our feelings are there to show us the contrast, the glimpse into what doesn’t feel good or resonate with out Heart. Like any duality, Positive/Negative, True/False, Masculine/Feminine, Yin/Yang…too much of one or the other throws us off balance. Imbalance occurs when the energies are out of sync and you see one more than the other… this is why it’s so Overwhelming! In fact, you may even recognize how when our minds are out of balance it’s the direct result of our unresolved emotions. Imbalanced Minds = Unresolved Emotions! Allowing emotions to fester only manifest dis~ease our physical bodies and the situations we find ourselves in. If you keep reliving events but never dealing with the emotions surrounding them, you’re creating more suffering in your life. No matter how painful an emotion, deal with it in the moment it arises and your life will be effortless. Choose to clear the air now for your health.

A nice reminder to consider when you feel an emotion stir,

The Presence is the Present ~ Gift yourself with Presence!
Nothing is more important than your Emotional Well-Being!

SOUL = SOL or SOLE = SUN (inner & outer!)Seems befitting there would be a connection between the Sun and the Moon with Emotion as the Soul’s mode of communication. The Sun is typically associated with how people see you from the outside while the Moon is your inner world. The relationship is in how balance is created by bringing the darkness to the light; it’s illuminating what needs attention. Focus in on your feelings when emotions rise and work through them in that moment so you aren’t carrying around the heaviness of them on your shoulders later.

I choose my happiness ~ it’s not conditional, just subjective to my own conditioning! A smile begets a smile and nurtures the mind, body, and soul; while anger festers and kills from the inside out.

What do you choose?

~ Lana A. LaBonte

I feel it’s time for us to face our fears and deepest emotions for what they’re trying to evoke in us! Most of the time we think, “I don’t want to upset the boat,” meanwhile, it’s your boat that no longer floats and risks sinking. Do yourself and everyone involved the service to speak up when you feel that uneasy sensation in your gut because nobody wins with assumptions, unspoken or repressed feelings.

Want to feel “ease” in your life?

Don’t let it get to that breaking point, eliminate the dis~ease from you mind, body, and soul!

Take your emotions more seriously and nurture them. This is the first sign of love you can demonstrate for YOU, when you can coddle those sensitivities that arise in you like you would a child. I guarantee the more you tap into these Senses of your Soul, the smoother and lighter your life will feel. Emotions won’t be so scary and feeling will take on a whole new meaning! This is where life is about finding balance ~ in learning our body language and mastering it!

~*♥*~ Learn your inner language & feel its message! Your Soul counts on you to be its best expression of itself so, live this life fully ~ Emotions & All! ~*♥*~

How many people truly understand what Selfless Love IS? Well, simply stated, it means loving without any attachment to an expectation in return! It means whatever you do you do it from your Heart. This comes purely from a place within you which has no preconceived expectation of accolades, acknowledgement, or reciprocity in return. From this place, You Express a deeply profound Ecstatic Love in that moment in time. There is no thought of personal gain or satisfaction in that moment. You just DO because it feels so good to give of yourself!

Most of us misinterpret what we think love is based on our experiences but then, how we demonstrate it gets muddied by attaching conditions to it! It is in these attachments to our expectations we are most sadly misled into our self-created suffering! These expectations are the same as the personal gain we pursue and strive for in our daily lives. We call this Selfish.

So, it’s easy for us to do this because it’s so deeply embedded into our subconscious to where we think we do things for others out of love but then, we ruin it by getting upset when they don’t acknowledge it in some fashion. THAT right there is the antithesis of selfless!

It’s in fact, selfish to expect anyone to respond to you the way you want them to based on what you do for them. Besides, how many people even communicate their expectations of what they want in return?

Talk about expecting too much!

This is the drama/trauma scenario we create in our lives and how we perpetuate our own Suffering!

Anytime you do something, do it from your entire Heart without any expectation in return. Even if you think a smile would be a nice Confirmationand Validation of your loving action, Surrender to the possibility you may never see a result from it in that moment, or ever. The more you do this, the more you may begin to see your world changing outside of you for the better…but then, remember not to get attached to any idea that your actions should and will result in something your mind can conceive because, when you least expect it, the things you will witness will far exceed any expectations you could ever have!

Going within ripples out in energetic waves as love expressed begets love experienced. This is only the beginning, it starts from the inner work, our going inside…

Love begins within and so when you seek to love another, first ask yourself if you love yourself. If you’re not there yet, consider nurturing and cultivating your own Self Love; for we cannot fully love another without first knowing it for and in our Self! All of these wonderful virtues like love, patience, compassion, trust, forgiveness, commitment, and understanding have to start with our Self before we can even extend it to another.

Pure love arises when distinction dies. Only when the mind is devoid of judgments can distance and division also disappear. The sense of division widens when we dwell on flaws in others, and it dissolves when we practice Agape. Love is not something you can acquire or give; it is something you become. When we become love, compassion springs forth spontaneously and manifests as loving-kindness distributed equally to all, just like both sun and rain fall everywhere alike without calculation or making preferences… Like a smile, compassion can prove contagious, inspiring others to pass it along through random selfless acts of kindness.”

Everyone wants to feel loved but rarely do we consider how we must demonstrate what that is through our own actions and interactions with others. How you express yourself is how others will treat you. If you want to be loved, you have to exhibit it in your presence.

~*♥*~ Seek True Love by demonstrating it in every thought, spoken word, action & deed you express. Pour forth from your Heart that which you want to experience yourself ~ Live Love ~ Experience it through BEing in Love & OFLove! Let Love Begin With You in Everything You Do! ~*♥*~

~ ♥ Lana A. LaBonte ♥ ~

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[a]6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

Although this day has become commercialized around the world, it is a day recognized for celebrating LOVE. For me, it’s usually just another day because I feel love should be celebrated every day but not today. Over the past 5+ years but more specifically, this month, life has had its twists and turns, sped up, slowed down, been frustrating, felt exhilarating, shifted in new ways, and just been a series of interesting experiences filled with a myriad of emotions. This has raised many questions for me like, “What does this all mean? Where am I headed? What does my future hold? When will this holding pattern break? Am I THERE yet? Am I doing the right thing? Do I even know what I’m doing? What if I’m doing what I need to? What if I fail?”

I have to admit for as long as I have been working to heal my life of the past traumas, old beliefs and patterns, there have been many moments of doubt, fear, sadness, and depression, which have caused me to question if I will ever get through this period and onto living my life more purposely. I know it’s a fact that when I even judge where I am, I’m not BEing alright where I am in that moment; I’m not appreciating the NOW and honoring it for how far I’ve come. It’s incongruent with who I am because these is only shortsightedness and polarized thoughts creating my emotional discomfort.

The truth is, today I saw how everything has led up to my acknowledging I LOVE MYSELF!I had to recognize how an old life lesson and experience surfaced and how I had manifested it only because I didn’t value myself enough and compromised my own integrity.

My buttons had been pushed long enough and I wasn’t being treated the way I wanted to be treated; heck, I clearly wasn’t demonstrating this for myself by myself. In fact, I had neglected myself, my needs, and just now starting to feel resentful for feeling undervalued, dismissed, excluded, and unsupported after months of tolerating.

I didn’t speak up for what I needed but instead tried, as I have done most of my life, to do it all myself. Well, feeling the mounting pressure in my life for a good several weeks, I have been upset and fired up about my unjust situation. At the same time, I am appreciative I recognized it and how it is no longer acceptable to me. I knew I needed to address it with myself and eventually confront the situation.

What a blessing this has turned out to be!

My Heart and Soul are speaking loudly and I am feeling them clearer than ever before. I have meditated, asked and prayed for guidance and a resolution to release this no-longer-serving scenario. I prayed for transformation, change, and integration of all the healing work I’ve been doing, now! In these past few days I have been feeling and sensing a stronger connection to God, Source, God-Head, the Universe, Soul, the Almighty Power, my Higher Self, than ever before. Because of this deep awareness, here is what I strongly resonated with this afternoon:

The Golden Rule of Love:Love unto YourSelf as You want others to
Love unto YOU!”

~ Lana A. LaBonte

I’ve always believed in the Golden Rule but I now see how it falls short of citing Love as the root of it all. If your intention is not aligned with Love coming from your Heart, it doesn’t serve anyone.

This Golden Rule of Love is so easily seen in theory but more often missed in application while we’re complacently going through the motions of life but never actually getting it.

Here’s where my Epiphany was realized.

From the moment I awoke, I felt something different. In my daily morning practice everything felt solid and pain free. This says a LOT because much of my life has been withstanding pain. I had rarely lived a day without pain to know what it felt like for my body to feel good! This was a clue as I headed to the yoga studio where I continued with meditative Amrit Yoga and Nidra classes. Again, I was seeing how fluid my body was moving, effortlessly and free of resistance ~ the pain body! Even subtle hints of where pain has appeared melted away with the breath as I reminded my body how it did not belong to me, was not the way I should feel, and to release it. Then, it was in Kundalini Yoga where:

I TRULY FELT LOVE FOR MYSELF!

I hadn’t realized it until I was holding a posture with long slow breathes ~ I truly do LOVE MYSELF! I have told myself for a long time, “I AM LOVE!”but I hadn’t really recognized how much I actually do love myself because I wasn’t seeing howI love[d] myself. I was going through motions but not actually seeing… The fact that I have disciplined myself all this time [over these years] devoted and dedicated to focus on removing what no longer serves me and change old habits, behaviors, and belief systems ~ TO HEAL MYSELF while healing others around me, especially family!

WOW, how could I have not seen this sooner?

I felt my love radiate from my entire BEing.

Ultimately, if I hadn’t gotten upset and recognized I where wasn’t standing in my power and self-worth, I may not have seen how it was a direct reflection for the amount of respect I had amassed in all the time I’ve been working on myself!

If I didn’t care, I would not have had such a strong emotion to the way I was seeing how this individual had affected me. It was an old lesson from the past yet, there was a deeper message than just speaking up for myself. It was also about owning and being Loving to myself so others would see it and follow my example. Boundaries/limitations, call it what you will… if you don’t have a strong sense of Self-worth, you clearly don’t Love yourself! No excuses!

So, today, in the simplest ways, I started noting all the ways I Love ME! I may not be in the perfect financial situation at this moment and have allowed it to distract me but truly, I have more than money can buy! I have LOVE ~ for myself, others, humanity, and all that is around me. Why? Because we’re all LOVE, we all desire Love, and we all deserve Love!

Not one person out there doesn’t want it yet, look at how many deny it ~ from themselves and others. It all starts with Self! You cannot fully love another without first knowing love for yourself. Even the love of a parent can feel restricted, despite their words and actions; we innately sense when someone withholds love from us.

It is in my commitment to my healing I saw how much I cared for myself. Through my dedicated daily yoga practice and meditation, reflective journaling, and tuning into my mind, body, and soul, I have been transforming my life. This is Love! Love is doing what nurtures and feeds you, Heart and Soul! It is not external! It comes from within and is what we project out to the world.

I have witnessed how Loving myself enough to do my inner work and integrate change has reflected in those around me. If it weren’t for these mirrors, I may never have noticed the way my growth has positively impacted family and friends. This is what motivates me more because I see myself as a drop in the ocean making waves, rippling change out into the world. How can you not see how you affect those around you?

I LOVE THIS LIFE!

Why not commit to YOU? Create a routine and commit to it for Love!

Without commitment in life we can never grow. Commitment is a way of training the mind and making it obey you. You become the master of your mind. Who wants to break the commitment? Your mind. The mind pops up, “Oh, I don’t want to do it,” and you give up. Then wherever you go, whatever you do, the mind will have that same tendency. Think before you leap. Once you leap, that’s it. Stick to it, whatever it is. Your dynamic will should be applied. “Yes, I decided to do it. I am going to do it. I will never back out.” The dynamic decision itself will help you achieve success in that.”

Look within and ask your Heart for guidance and what makes it sing. Hearts only break when we don’t tend to them. Our most difficult emotions are meant to be felt because they indicate we’ve neglected ourselves in some way. They are the senses of the soul!

Respect, honor, and allow your emotions because they’re there to get your attention. Want to know more, ask! When you spend time with your emotions, feel and question them, you are able release them sooner. Not doing this only builds up a explosive pressure. Emotions are like tides, they’re meant to ebb and flow but don’t allow them to become stagnant blocks. Water must flow and so shall we when we allow!

Make this day and every day about LovingYOU!

The fact is, if a person has not experienced the love of his or her soul, within one’s self, there is no chance that that person can go out and love, even though it is a faculty of love that you most powerfully need… You have no sensitivity that your soul shall leave in the subtle body and that your subtle body is as sophisticated as anything in the universe can be. So unless you produce in yourself elegance, grace, sophisticatedness in your mind, manners and attitude, and unless you come from the infinite altitude, and ascend to that altitude, you cannot descend in love. The higher is your being, the deeper is the love.”

~ Yogi Bhajan

If you truly love yourself first, the way you want others to also love you, you will FEEL Loved; especially, without confirmation and validation from others. You shouldn’t be attached or dependent upon others but the bonus is they will follow your example. Your life will be more enriched for it because without self-love, we cannot truly extend love to others.

Be the Leader, Pioneer the true meaning of Love:
~*♥*~ Live from your Heart! ~*♥*~

A label is a mask life wears. We put labels on life all the time. “Right,” “wrong,” “success,” “failure,” “lucky,” “unlucky,” may be as limiting a way of seeing things as “diabetic,” “epileptic,” “manic-depressive,” or even “invalid.” Labeling sets up an expectation of life that is often so compelling we can no longer see things as they really are. This expectation often gives us a false sense of familiarity toward something that is really new and unprecedented. We are in relationship with our expectations and not with life itself.”

True ignorance is ignoring a person for who they truly are and buying into your perception of them based on labels. Might you be fooled by this mask? Maybe you see a reminder of some familiar yet appalling aspect; you label itbased upon something from your own past, a costume, theirappearance, sound, accent, the way they speak ~ the way they look, smell, the group they associate with, etc… How did we become such a lazy assuming society consumed with placing everything and everyone in a neatly constructed box to define them? We live in “Us versus Them” times where nobody really defines who Us is, nor Them! We’re overrun with acronyms, labels, groups, organizations, political parties, religious organizations, sports teams, sexual preferences, race, color, rules, laws, … everything that divides us from one another keeping us from actually communicating as individuals and connecting as human beings. It separates us, polarizes us, creates drama and conflict ~ internal and external!

Do you like to be judged? I know I don’t and I realize I do it ~ we all do it. How do you define yourself? Better yet, how would you like to be defined?

Why would anyone want to subscribe to being labeled? It usually equates to a false sense of connection to peers. Though this is the quickest answer, it often does not lead to fulfilled happiness? It leaves us feeling a sense of loss of who we are because we’ve locked ourselves into a box of predefined qualities or conditions; we are not allowed to shine independently of these Labels!

Let your thoughts, words, actions define you. Not a label, not a mask… Want to be recognized for YOU?

Go Naked!

Remove the mask and all the attachments to identities you’ve collected along the way trying to fit in. It doesn’t suit you nor does it serve.

Simply JustBEYOU!

Wars are started over forcing one’s will on another. Why give someone the ammo, fuel, or fire to propel or maintain their need to overpower and control another. It doesn’t matter if you support them or are against them. Labeling does both when you buy into it!

We should embrace who we are without the need to fit someone else’s comfort level to define how they should treat us. If we were taught to confidently go out into the world BEing who we are, nothing would be lost.

I don’t want someone to treat me like a label. I want to be treated as the unique and loving individual I am, as I will treat everyone the same.

If someone walks up to me and declares they are “X-Label”, this implies they are looking for conflict, acceptance, or some sort of reaction to this because they themselves aren’t even certain of themselves and question it. They seek a response to assert them and their actions.

Have you been putting on labels just so others can feel comfortable around you and gain their approval, at your own expense? What has it cost you?

What kind of attention are you looking for by shouting from rooftops who you are, based upon labels? Of course, it draws attention to you ~ just not necessarily the kind you would like. Chances are if you feel so inclined to draw this sort of attention to yourself, you have not connected with the true you. Are you acting out in ways to find approval from outside of yourself, or maybe just to seek a reaction creating a conflict? Either way, attention you seek, attention you shall find! Choose wisely how you seek attention.

You’ve been trying too hard to identify with people, places, and things versus seeing you are perfect, just as you are!

You only suffer when you don’t go within because of all the time you’ve gone without!

Look within and ask your Heart for guidance.

When was the last time you expressed who you are through your actions? I’m talking about doing what you enjoy versus doing what you feel others will approve of? Do you know who you are without putting a label on You?

If you want to be respected by people around you, don’t go around declaring you are something. Walk your talk with reverence for what you believe in your heart, as you are guided by Soul and Purpose.

Only the EGO wants recognition for belonging to some label or special group; it declares “I am this….give me attention, respect, put me on this pedestal…”

You won’t see truly humanitarians, spiritual, or humble people running around shouting a declaration like this from the rooftops.

Want to change the world? Do so by setting the example in your actions. Talk is cheap! Anyone who identifies with a group has created a division from themselves and the potential to connect or affect anyone else.

Let’s not be hypocrites by claiming one group is better than the other because this is why the world is in such a divided state ~ It’s called separation, duality, polarity, Us Against Them ~ None of these look for solutions but instead feed the machine that serves none of us. Remember,

Together We Stand, Divided We Fall!~ Aesop

Forgiveness starts with self, as do all virtues like patience, compassion, love, honesty, humility, etc…

Erase any lines that divide you and me. Find creative ways to connect with one another by expressing yourself doing what you love. Live your life with passion, never sacrificing your heart and soul. Look for people who uplift you, love and support you for who you are, label-free. Nurture your own True Nature and watch how those around you gradually do the same for themselves. Be a pioneer in Life!

Why not? What have you got to loose?

~*♥*~ Go Naked & Expose the Real YOU! You may find you’ll be appreciated more for courageously demonstrating your inner Self versus a mask you may have donned hiding your Self all this time. BE a Brave New YOU! ~*♥*~

“The child’s naïve dream of life is the only one worth having.” ~ Marty Rubin

~*♥*~

Continuing with the yesterday’s post on Manifesting Miracles, I realized how important it is to mention how our lives have become so serious we’ve lost our childlike innocence from the time when we had visions of grandeur!

Where did it all go? It turns out, we learned bad habits, behaviors, ways of thinking and being as we grew into our adult ways. We were trained, conditioned, and told how we should be. Along the way we lost our natural penchant for seeking with our heart and feeling our way through life. We were told we needed to grow up and we listened because we wanted to belong and feel loved.

Anything was possible in our minds. What thwarted this way of thinking? Isn’t it interesting to note that we were actually right all along!? I still believe anything is possible and I strive to reconcile my way of thinking, seeing, and believing that everything has potential. It does, you know! Just trust and follow your Heart. You did when you were very little without any hesitation …. until, you were no longer a child.

Have you ever considered what it was you were so passionate about as a child? What brought you the most joy? What did you want to be when you grew up – not the practical but the impractical!? Do you remember when you gave it up or why? Were you one of the lucky ones who was able to maintain it or Have you found yourself at a point where you’re returning your childhood passions?

Either way, it’s time to recapture your Heart’s Desire and pursue what makes your Soul Soar and Heart Sing!

This life is a Playground!

We came into this life for a reason. We’re meant to en~joy, explore, and contribute to cultivating our natural gifts, talents, and blessed abilities. These are what we were meant to share with the world. Don’t you notice how much joy they bring you by using them but when suppressed, you feel weighed down missing this vitality!?

When was the last time you allowed your Inner Child to play with its natural gifts? Do you go back from time to time to play? Don’t loose yourself by suppressing your Self!

Hearts break and Souls Shatter when we don’t follow the Truth that radiates the innocence of our Inner Child!”
~ Lana A. LaBonte

Wash yourself of the old restricted living. Let your Inner Child come out to miraculously and fully experience this life without over-analyzing it from the adult perspective of conditioning & learned behaviors, patterns, & thoughts. Throw caution to the wind with each experience new and fresh, not tainted from what you have you’ve had occur in your life up to this point. We base so much of our trepidation to try new things by all the experiences we’ve had as if they determine the outcome. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

Take each day fresh and ask yourself, “What would I do if I were still my Child Self?”

Small changes will bring surprising results to your daily life ~ more joy and patience from the perspective a child arises when you tap into the simplicity from whence you came.

Open your Heart to your Childlike Innocence and allow yourself to be vulnerable once again to the unknown. Healing comes from Feeling and it’s the only route to a fulfilled life.

Let your Inner Child come out to Play! You know it’s time and you deserve to live in Joy!

How have you begun this New Year? Did you resolve to release anything? Have you set a list of intentions to aspire and achieve over these next 365 days?

Is there one word You can use to describe the way you feel 2014 will unfold for you? Consider what is bubbling up inside of you and see if you can put a word to this sensation. Write it down on a piece of paper and place it into a 2014 collection jar/box or start a fresh new 2014 Journal with this word as your Theme!

I wanted to share with you what has come to me over the past several weeks as a theme for 2014. It’s something I’ve felt and witnessed in my own life and many around me. Sometimes we take them for granted but if we witness, acknowledge, really recognize, and appreciate them, it unlocks the gates to so much more ~ Miracles!

You may call them what you like; an act of God, object of wonder, Divine Intervention, God’s Hand, angelic help, miracles, magic, supernatural forces, Murphy…but ultimately, there’s no way to explain what we witness with our own eyes when these events occur. They strike us, leave an imprint, an impression we cannot discount to keeps our hope alive as we continue along our life path that they may impart more wondrous events and further our trust they do exist!

Have you ever witnessed one, a miracle? I know I have witnessed many in my own life. I believe we’re meant to expect them and appreciate them in order to allow more.

Miracles are the natural way of the Universe ~ our only job is to move our doubting minds out of the way.~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie

How open is your heart? How willing are you to just trust there is something bigger than you that cannot be explained in words? This is what my theme revolves around.

I see this year to be all about the ability to throw caution to the wind and Allow whatever miracles you need to manifest in your life. I use the word Manifest because ultimately, a miracle can happen in front of you and you may not witness it no matter how obvious it is if you’re not open to seeing it ~ this means actively looking for the good in all, recognizing what is positive in your life, giving thanks and appreciating the moments of insight and beauty you are exposed to daily! If you’re looking for something to complain about, you’ll find it while if you look to appreciate something of beauty, it will appear. Equally, it’s all about what you are open to allowing into your life.

This year is a clean slate for all of us! Resolve to release old ways of thinking, behaving, and being to creating a renewed sense YOU! Consider what you’ve always wanted to be and just BE that! Work towards your heart’s desire ~ tap into your Heart’s Wisdom! Want to make changes, make them! No more excuses! What do you have to loose? REALLY!?! If you’re not happy, ask yourself why because you know deep down inside and only you can make the choice to change your situation. If you want answers you need to go within. Nothing nor nobody outside of you has the answers your Heart and Soul can reveal to you. Take the time to pray, meditate, reflect, or whatever it takes for you to connect with your inner and higher Self. You owe it to YOU!

I will share one of my resolutions because I believe we all need to do this ~ without reservation, “Let Love ~ Allow Love ~ Love & BE Loved!” What this means to me is truly opening my heart to all the love I may have rejected or held back from others and even myself. Why? Well, because as much as I want to believe I’ve been loving, I know I have so much more potential within me and the more I open myself and actively demonstrate this, the more it will inspires others to do the same! I know the way the waves ripple out energetically and I want to manifest the miracle of Love in ALL so we can uplift this world.

The ways we choose to be uplifted are a result of what we feel we deserve, are worthy of, and our level of self-esteem. Opening up to love is the hardest for those of us who have lived in denial of it. Love has the power to heal and when we allow it, it can be the catalyst for many miracles to unfold. What are you willing to let into your life this year? Will you expand your mind to be astounded by the greatness within you that is meant to be shared with the world? Never underestimate the power you have because we all have it.

Our “Rainbows and Butterflies” are the small miracles of our life – the little things that are so easy to overlook, yet so awe inspiring when we take a moment to notice and to pay attention. Give thanks for the rainbows, for the butterflies, for all God’s creatures – large and small, for the bright blue sky and the soft fog and the gentle rain, for the tree veiled in the season’s first frost, for the baby’s laugh, for the touch of a hand and the whispered “I love you.”

~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I suggest this be a year when our Hearts connect and our Souls unite, a year where we create the life we’ve always imagined and so much more, and remember to connect to the one thing that truly matters and we all have in common ~ LOVE! We all deserve it and it’s time we all embrace and embody it. The more love we allow in our lives, the more we can share with others; the more love we share with others, the more love we will receive in our own lives! Our personal power is all about living in love. Let’s tap into our Personal Power this year and prove we are capable to Manifest Miracles! I’ll uplift and support you in this ~ Allow it and watch how we can move mountains!

~*♥*~ May this New Year 2014 bring you an Abundance of Clarity, Peace, & Blessings from that place deep within where your Heart & Soul Manifests Miracles! ~*♥*~

We can talk about all the things which BEing in our Truth can be described by, like living with Integrity, Consistency, Demonstration of Character, Honesty, Love, Devotion, etc…but only YOU know if you are living from within your Truth!

Nobody can tell you what your Truth is because what is true for one is not true for another. It is also not to be confused with tangible facts.

We may feel IT but we are not always listening inwardly to IT! In fact, typically, our Mind believes it’s in control, running this show we call Life. The truth is it’s this conditioned Ego Mind, which misleads us; meanwhile, the Heart will never lead you astray!

Think about the last time you felt you made a bad decision or ended up in a situation you felt you could have avoided if you had just trusted that little voice inside, you know the one I’m speaking of. Your logical mind was probably the one who deduced how you should proceed and how you landed there to begin with. If only you had tapped into your inner wisdom.

The other day I spoke with a woman who asked me:

What is the one thing you could never give up that brings you joy? That one thing you live for and could never imagine being without? How could you do more of it?”

We’re not talking eating ice cream, insert whatever your vice, everyday unless you can say you feel complete and total bliss and this feeling sustains you well beyond the passed blissful moment ~ because moments are fleeting.

What this means is what is it you can’t explain but comes from deep down within your BEing, your Heart & Soul, the Truth of who you are and were meant to BE! Can you identify something resembling this? Many times it cannot be explained because it drives you ~ it permeates your entire mind, body, & Spirit.

Without this, would your life still have meaning?

We got to discussing the difference between living and having a J.O.B.(If interested, look up the history of Job = “persecuted”)

A J.O.B. guarantees an exchange of services for money, which is recognized as a strong sense of security, a belief system of many. It may not be the case for all but it is a mental programming of what we’ve been conditioned to believe.

If you’re living a more creative life and go with the Flow, your life is always provided with security and this doesn’t always come in the form of money! This requires real Trust, a deep innerKnowing!

For me, I desire the freedom to travel, write, create, and experience as much as I possibly can! I didn’t always have this, so I thought! Having freedom of Choice in my life is essential and tremendously important to me. I admit there are moments where I feel like I’m on shaky ground and I have no idea what will happen next but I remind myself how everything always works out. It just does! How else can one explain this but to live in the Divine flow of miracles.

Ultimately, the message clearly came to me how

“We spend most of our life trying to figure out where we came from, who we are, what we’re doing here, where we’re headed and what happens after we die. This is how we’ve lost sight of the PRESENT! We don’t LIVE. We’re caught up in the Past & the Future trying to decypher mysteries that will be revealed, but long after we’ve Lived this physical existence. The key word here is LIVE! Why not tap into this Moment Being TRUE to our Hearts & Souls ~ NOW!?! There’s no time to waste so why have we become so complacent and caught up in bad habits and behaviors? Let’s LIVE the Life we were meant to and forgo the distractions!” ♥

We all have those days when we want things to be a certain way. We think it should BE that way because well, that’s how we’ve been convinced to think it should be. What if it’s ALL WRONG? Haven’t you ever questioned or doubted what you think? What if all those distractions were purposely created for us to loose our sense of power and inner wisdom; or better yet, remove us from our True identity and the Power we innately have inside each and every one of us? Nobody can take this away from you. Power has to be given freely; even if you don’t realize you’re doing it. It’s Force that’s used to fear you into giving it away. There’s nothing authentic about force.

Authenticity radiates from within when you allow the Truth of who you are to shine ~ Your Heart & Soul! The only one you can offend or hurt if you deny your Truth is your Self! You deserve so much more so BETrue to You!

~ Lana A. LaBonte

Take some time to sit down and reflect upon what it is that drives you. What is it in your life that reflects the truth of who you are? Do you feel your life is complete or do you lack (see my previous post)? If you feel something is missing, it’s time to tune in and listen. All it takes is a choice and… It’s up to YOU!

Once you recognize the Divine Order and flow, you see everything as a Blessing!

~ Lana A. LaBonte

~*~ May you awaken to your True Wisdom within. May your Heart Sing & your Soul Soar leading you on your Divine Path with Purpose, Grace, and Ease.May you BE in your unwavering Truth! ~*~

Do you pay attention to your thoughts, to what you perceive as true, and what you believe to be your reality? How have they shaped your life? Do you see yourself living the life you’d always wanted? Or, are you living the life you were told was more realistic?

I see most people realizing they are unhappy later on in their life after they’ve met the expectations placed upon them in earlier years. They’ve checked off the boxes on the script of society’s version of how life should run versus following their Heart. The importance to follow our Heart is highly misunderstood and ignored in our society meanwhile, it is the Heart which will never lead you astray!

To truly appreciate this, you have to consider that just because a job or career path makes sense versus supporting your passion ~ allowing your Spirit to Soar and your Heart to Sing, doesn’t mean it will yield the same results to acquire that which you desire. In fact, if you are just working a non-fulfilling job to sustain you, you will always find yourself in LACK, also known as scarcity! Lack in whatever you do to fulfill your Heart & Soul is LACK overall! Lack cannot attain, sustain, or maintain.

What might have made sense simply because “it’s just what you DO! Because that’s what my father did, & his father’s father, & his father’s father… has always done… Nothing comes without Struggle & Hard Work!” will only result in a life of misery.

Does this ring a bell with anyone? I know for myself, I had many interests and passions growing up but I followed what was promoted to me as being the secure and safe path. I was conditioned to believe it a much wiser way to pursue the American Dream yet, all the while, I found myself living a life lacking something and I was unsure at the time. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Not until many years later did it occur to me. My Heart spoke and all the things I did as a child have come back to remind me. In fact, had I listened to my heart instead of my head, I probably would have stayed with a special someone I had felt deep love for and equally felt loved by.

To be truly happy in your career you need to find the right kind of work for you. Not something you think you should do or something somebody else wants you to do.

Some women like to lead, others prefer to follow, some are independent and others prefer to be part of a team. There is no right or wrong. Ask yourself, “What feels right for me?” “How can I use my unique and natural talents?” “How can I bring out the best in myself and provide it to others as a service?”

Dare to take the steps toward finding your own true path by answering the questions above. You’ll discover what comes naturally and what activities make you the happiest.

Do you want to get back on track with what fuels your deepest desires ~ the ones your Heart knows and not your head? It’s never too late! So, what can you do to turn your life around? At any given moment, you can choose to change the course of your life. You can start at anytime and in small steps.

Gandhi once said,

The enemy is fear. We think it is hate, but it is fear.

Do only what you love! For what you desire to appreciate in love must satisfy your Heart & Soul! Doing something that brings you joy appreciates in all you do!Follow your dreams! The child within you knows the answer!

Remember that doing something just to fulfill what you want without pleasure will never satisfy you because it lacks passion to bring unity ~ this results in there being no flow within the Infinity!

Taking yourself from a place of Lack and Scarcity to Unlimited Abundance and Resources requires a reprogramming of your Thoughts, Beliefs, and Behaviors! Everyone is worthy of Love ~ Especially YOU! Be Patient, Be Kind, & BE Love To YOU!

~ Lana A. LaBonte

Sometimes it takes time to re~identify the path we once knew as children but that’s the first step that must be made to get out of an unhappy situation! Be patient, sit in silence, write in a journal, trace back events, ASK your Heart to guide you, and over time, it will become crystal clear.

~*♥*~ May you find Clarity, Peace, & Abundance from that place deep within your Heart & Soul! ~*♥*~